In a bid to explain to the public what the Silent Service actually does, eight lucky Australians were announced as the winners of Defence’s national competition to experience life as a submariner.
Minister for Defence Personnel Darren Chester said Defence received close to 200 entries for the competition and congratulated the winners.
The successful entrants – Damon Dawson, 19, Cessnock NSW; Sarah Cox, 18, Darwin NT; Jack Evans, 18, Gold Coast QLD; Katelyn Mayne, 20, Hobart TAS; Tahlia Purdie, 25, Melbourne VIC; Kirkley Whiting, 19, Esperance WA; Noah Edberg, 27, Harrison ACT; and Melvin Wong, 23, Brompton SA - explained in 50 words or less the submariner role they would choose and why.
Damon Dawson’s choice was Acoustic Analyst Submariner because he aspires to be part of the team providing real-time intelligence to commanders.
Tahlia Purdie is interested in the Marine Technician role because she is fascinated by submarine propulsion systems and how they work. Tahlia wants a career where she can work with her hands and apply her mind to solve problems.
For West Australian Kirkley Whiting, the best option is Electronics Engineer. He’s excited by the challenges of the job, the uniqueness of it and the opportunity to work on world class technologies as part of a close community of people.
“Today our competition winners explored Australia’s largest Navy base, HMAS Stirling, in Garden Island, WA,” Chester said. “They experienced Navy simulators at the Submarine Training and Systems Centre, testing their fitness during a physical training session, honing their skills on the Weapon Training Simulation System and observing where Australia’s submariners work, on-board HMAS Sheean.
“They have seen for themselves that the environment is unique and while the space is limited, the experience is vast.”
While submariner numbers are no longer reported publically, Director-General of Submarines Commodore Tim Brown outlined the gains that the Collins fleet has made since the adoption of the Coles review at the Submarine Institute of Australia conference in November last year.
The fleet has been meeting its material ready days benchmarks for over a year, the submarine workforce has grown by 45 per cent in the past three years, and the Collins fleet participated in over two dozen exercises in 2018 with 2019 set to be even busier.